It is known that solar cells with both emitter and base contacts on the rear surface of the solar cell's substrate provide high efficiency and simplify the interconnection of cells together into a module. However, manufacturing such cells is expensive due to the difficulty of placing the closely spaced emitter and base contacts on the cells' substrates. Additionally, placing emitter/base metal on the cell's substrate requires carefully aligned photolithography and/or screen printed layers to prevent shorting and yield loss.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide new methods and apparatuses for manufacturing self-aligned integrated back contact heterojunction solar cells.